


The One Where They're Kittens

by emef



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: M/M, kitten!fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-14
Updated: 2011-04-14
Packaged: 2017-10-18 02:26:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/183962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emef/pseuds/emef
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"One time, he was grooming on a park bench, and a squirrel just handed him half his nuts"</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One Where They're Kittens

Part 1

Arthur finds him in an alley, feasting on the discarded remains of a birthday cake. Blue and white frosting stick to his whiskers, and the New Kitten looks up at him.

He mews. "Miao", he says, looking more helpless than the most helpless orphan Arthur has ever seen.

Arthur answers with a bright, efficient purr, and licks some of the frosting off the New Kitten's fur.

When he's done, he stands back, and both kittens face each other. They are frozen on the spot. Then New Kitten smushes his face into his box of cake, and presents his be-frosted side to Arthur. He purrs.

*

New Kitten, whose names is Eames, follows Arthur - unasked, uninvited, but also unrejected - while Arthur visits the Shaughnessy Butchers, the alley behind the 8th street drugstore, and Mrs Kassovitz' back garden.

When they leave the garden, Eames turns in the opposite direction ; by the time Arthur turns to see what Eames is doing, Eames is gone.

*

Arthur pokes through the Milton Street Tailors rubbish bin every Tuesday. He saw a housecat wearing a gingham scarf once. Arthur is a proud, independent siamese - no human is putting a collar on him - but he admired the bit of coloured material.

He sorts through the pile, keeping some of the bits of silk. A scrap of hideous paisley-print linen catches his eye. He thinks of Eames, for some reason.

 

Part 2

Every weekend morning Eames plays with a sunbeam poking through the trees in the park off Main Street. Tree branches move about, and sometimes the sunbeam is there, sometimes it isn't. It's unpredictable, which is frustrating, but Eames chases it regardless ; he can't help it.

This morning the sun is very bright, and there's lots of wind. A bit of kleenex tissue wafts past him, just at whisker level ; Eames scampers after it, leaving the sunbeam to the other kittens.

*

On the other side of the park, Arthur counts tiles on the oversize chess game. He counts, from the rook to the king, as many tiles as he has paws. And again, from the queen to the other rook, the same number. So for the whole length of the board, there are as many tiles as paws for himself and another cat. Arthur purrs to himself ; he likes symmetry.

A kleenex tissue floats past ; Arthur reaches up for it just as Eames barrels into him, knocking him down. Neither of them catches the tissue, but they do catch each other.

*

No kitten has has ever rivalled Eames when it comes to making intentional acts appear unintentional. Eames was gifted from birth ; he always looks like he just happens to be there, and fulfilling his needs just occurs to cats, to people… to various other city wildlife.

One time, he was grooming on a park bench, and a squirrel just handed him half his nuts. Eames couldn't eat them, obviously, but he traded them for some leftover liverwurst at the 8th street barter.

*

Arthur sleeps in one of the warehouses near the old docks. The neighbourhood hasn't really gentrified yet. Arthur has a room with a view and proximity to heating vents. His neighbours one one side have a Placebo cover band ; his other neighbours use the space for pineapple almond cookie storage.

Arthur is fastidious, even for a cat - he never even leaves mouse carcasses inside - and he's a little bit proud of his warehouse. He's not sure why it's important to him to show it to Eames - maybe he wants to set a good example, so Eames will have a good model when he sets up his own warehouse - but he feels compelled to do it, so he takes him there.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Dreamwidth 05/10/2010
> 
> [xenakis](/users/xenakis/pseuds/xenakis) prompted "cake" and "adoption".


End file.
